Schizophrenia: Psychological Explanations

Question 1

What are the two main areas of psychological explanation?

Answer 1

1) psychological theories

2) socio-cultural factors

Question 2

What are the two areas within psychological theories?

Answer 2

1) psychodynamic

2) cognitive

Question 3

Psychodynamic: what are the two related problems believed to result in SZ?

Answer 3

1) regression to a pre-ego stage

2) attempts to establish ego control

Question 4

Who believed that regression to a pre-ego stage and attempts to re-establish ego control resulted in SZ?

Answer 4

Freud (1924)

Question 5

Why might someone regress to a pre-ego stage or attempt to re-establish ego control?

Answer 5

This may happen if SZ has encouraged a negative surrounding (ie uncaring parents).

Question 6

What did Freud (1924) suggest SZ was?

Answer 6

An infantile state.

Question 7

Cognitive: what does this explanation acknowledge about SZ explanations!

Answer 7

Acknowledges the role of biological factors in chasing the initial sensory experiences of SZ.

Question 8

Cognitive: what causes further features of the disorder to appear?

Answer 8

As individuals attempt to understand initial sensory experiences of SZ (ie voices).

Question 9

Cognitive: what do individuals do after their first initial sensory experiences of SZ? What does this lead to?

Answer 9

Turn to others to confirm the validity of what they are experiencing. When they do not confirm this the schizophrenic may reject the feedback and begin to believe individuals are hiding information from them.

Question 10

Cognitive: after individuals cannot confirm the reality of the schizophrenics experienced, what happens?

Answer 10

The SZ individual may develop delusional beliefs that they are being manipulated and persecuted.

Question 11

What are the three main areas within socio-cultural factors?

Answer 11

1) Life events and SZ
2) Family relationships
3) Labelling theory

Question 12

What are stressful life events?

Answer 12

Individual stresses ie break ups or death

Question 13

Who studied life events and SZ?

Answer 13

Brown and Birley (1968)

Question 14

Explain the findings from study conducted by Brown and Birley (1968)

Answer 14

Found that prior to a SZ episode, patients who had previously experienced SZ had reported twice as many stressful life events compared to a healthy control group.

Question 15

Who suggested that high levels of physiological arousal associated with neurotransmitter changes are involved with stress and SZ?

Answer 15

Falloon et al (1996)

Question 16

What are the two areas within (socio-cultural) family relationships theory?

Answer 16

1) Double-blind theory

2) Expressed emotion

Question 17

Double blind theory:
Who suggested that children who frequently receive contradictory messages from their parents are more likely to develop SZ?

Answer 17

Bateson et al (1956)

Question 18

Double blind theory:

What may happen if a child receives contradictory messages from a parent?

Answer 18

This might limit the child’s ability to respond. These interactions prevent the development of an internally coherent construction of reality which manifests as SZ symptoms in the long term.